


Changes

by WordSmithBreaker



Series: A Child's Mind [4]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Misunderstandings, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 14:04:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14021865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordSmithBreaker/pseuds/WordSmithBreaker
Summary: There have been some big changes lately and they've left Conner reeling.





	Changes

Kaldur'ahm was in a deep metative trance, exploring his new magical threshold, when his phone vibrated. It was quite a feat considering he was at the bottom of the ocean, left his phone on his bed at the base, and had put it on silent.

For a moment Kaldur contemplated just zapping the accursed thing and being done with it. But it must be urgent if Jin was interrupting his training, so he spared a glance at the screen.

"My queen, you will have to excuse me. There appears to be an emergency with Conner I must attend to. Forgive me." Kaldur apologized as he snatched up the phone.

"He is the child, is he not?" Mera asked, touching her stomach as Kaldur nodded, "Then I expect you to return as soon as you are able to finish today's lesson. Perhaps bring the child with you, he is kryptonian correct?"

"Half Kryptonian." Kaldur supplied as he listened to his voicemail, "And I shall return as soon as I am able. With Conner if he is amenable to the idea."

"Then go Kaldur." The queen waved him away.

"Thank you my Queen." he gave a quick bow before quickly making his way towards the door.

Next thing he knew, he was dressed in his surface clothes and standing in the doorway of Conner's school. The teleport had been seemless, leaving him with only a faint sense of disorientation. His phone vibrated in his pocket and Kaldur fumbled for a second to get it out of his pocket.

'Sorry. Emergency teleport.' was Jin's way of apology.

Shaking his head, Kaldur made his way to the reception desk. He had the feeling that the teleport was going to be the least interesting part of his day.

The moment Kaldur set foot in the classroom, he was immediately hit by the small wrecking ball known as Conner Kent. Kaldur staggered for a moment before lifting the smaller boy up into his arms, marveling for a moment at how small the boy was.

He knew that the magic Breaker had weaved around Conner transformed him into a child, and that his age depended on the boy's emotional state. It was something the Team was used to, Conner was far from being the most emotionally stable teenager on the team.

In spite of that, Kaldur had never seen Conner quite this small. He was half a head shorter than most of his classmates, and weighed almost nothing in Kaldur's arms. Then there was the pacifier that reeked of magic stuck firmly in his mouth, one of Artemis' favorite shirts wrapped around his shoulders like a blanket, and the pull-up hidden under his clothes.

But none of those facts set off as many warning bells in his head more than the fact that Conner was crying.

As a rule Superboy didn't cry, even when he was Conner. He would pout, get mad, sulk, throw rocks into the ocean, curl up in someone's arms and just lay there but he would not cry. The only on-record example of him crying was that time they had to go on a mission and leave him behind with Canary.

With all those facts in mind, Kaldur's eyes immediately sought out the slightly frazzled Ms. Emma.

"I take it he has not had the greatest day today?"

With a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, Ms. Emma replied, "It was just an emotional day for him. Lots of crying, which is unusual?"

"Very."

"I see. He just couldn't seem to calm himself down. Then he had a few accidents and that didn't help any." she continued to explain.

"I see. I will make sure more clothes are brought in tomorrow. Did he say anything as to why he was upset?" Kaldur asked as he shifted Conner slightly.

"He couldn't bring himself to. At first he didn't want to talk then he couldn't bring himself to talk."

Kaldur frowned, prodding at the constant mental connection between the team and getting nothing but a jumbled mess of thoughts.

"Has there been any big changes at home? I noticed that it was had to get ahold of Jin or John." Kaldur recognized the silent inquiry for what it was.

"John is working and it is hard to take personal calls at work. Jin is away on a business trip out of the country." Conner whimpered at the explanation and Kaldur rubbed his back, "I came as fast as I could."

"I noticed somebody new when Megan dropped off this morning. A friend?"

"That is Zatanna, a family friend who has come to stay with us recently."

Between Conner's sudden burst of tears and the look on Ms. Emma's face, the realization struck Kaldur like one of Wally's punches.

"We will talk about it tonight." Kaldur reassured the teacher, "Conner, say goodbye."

Conner lifted his head enough to look at Ms. Emma and wave goodbye.

"Thank you for your patience with Conner." Kaldur smiled, "I hope you have a wonderful afternoon."

Ms. Emma gave another smile before darting across the room to defuse a growing situation. Taking that as his cue to leave, Kaldur collected Conner's bookbag and made his way out of the building.

"I take it you do not wish to go back to the base yet?" Kaldur asked as he made his way down the streets of Happy Harbor.

He was also cursing the fact that the Base was across town from Conner's school.

"No." Conner mumbled, content with being carried for once.

"Where did you get the pacifier? I do not recall you wanting or needing one before."

"Jin." Conner stated, "I was mad and just needed to do something aggressive. But I couldn't 'cus I'm too strong. So I guess Jin made it for me, cus I can bite and chomp hard and it no break."

"Does not break, not no break." Kaldur corrected gently, "Do you wish to talk about the Zatanna situation?"

"No." it was a firm answer, with all the weight a 'no' from a toddler could possibly carry.

Kaldur rolled his eyes, something he learned from Artemis, but let it go for now. With Conner's current mood he ran the risk of the boy melting down if he pushed the subject.

Instead, Kaldur had a better idea.

"Would you like to visit Atlantis, Conner?"

* * *

 

The trip through the Base was mildly painless, and Conner only cried a little when his sensitive ears popped at the sudden change in pressure upon their arrival.

Queen Mera smiled as Conner hid in Kaldur's arms, "Hello little one, you must be Conner. I've heard so much about you."

"Hi."

At his Queen's questioning look, Kaldur could only shrug helplessly.

"He has had a rough day. But Conner, please do not be rude."

Conner lifted his head to glare Kaldur, only to be distracted by a fish made of water as it swam past his face. He twisted his head, following it as it circled around to land in Mera's hands.

Mera smiled as the boy reached out to touch it only for the fish to dance out of the way. Conner frowned before reaching out for her to take him so he could get a closer look.

In moments the room was full of fish constructs, Conner gasping with joy at every new animal Mera created.

Aquaman had a bemused smile as he strode into the room, gently guiding a fish out of his way.

"I feel as if this is a preview of what is to come with our child." the king chuckled, "And it is a pleasure to finally meet the infamous Superboy."

"My name is Conner." the toddler insisted as he reached out to catch a passing clownfish, "Can you really talk to fishies?"

"Conner, please remember your manners." Kaldur groaned, shaping some water into a shark and letting it swim about.

It was a difficult task that his Queen made look effortless.

"Never mind the manners, he is a child. Let him act as one." Aquaman chided his apprentice, "And yes, I can speak to them somewhat."

"Megan talks in our brains." Conner held his arms out towards Aquaman, "Show me."

"Please." Kaldur added, frowning at the lack of manners.

He was ignored as a bemused Mera handed Conner over to her husband, who held him awkwardly. Aquaman held him as if he was made of glass as he walked over to one of the windows and summoned a whale to swim by.

"I was under the impression he was older." Mera commented as Conner cheered and pressed his face to the window.

"He was having a very rough day." Kaldur said by way of explanation, "And I apologize for his rudeness, he usually has better manners."

"It is of no concern. He is a child, is he not." Mera smiled as a whole pod of singing whales passed by the window.

"More today than never before."

"Sharkie! Kaldur, he called a sharkie!" Conner twisted to look at Kaldur, "Look!"

Mera laughed as Kaldur made his way to the window to look at the hammerhead shark his king had called.

* * *

 

Hours passed and finally Kaldur found himself alone with Conner. They had spent the entirety of the afternoon with the king and queen before they had to return to their duties.

"It seems your day has taken a turn for the better." Kaldur said, eyeing the content look on the toddler's face.

"Lots." Conner nodded enthusiastically, "Mera and Arthur are nice. Can I stay here?"

"No, you can't little one." Kaldur sighed, "The others would miss you dearly."

Conner folded his arms and pouted, one of the new habits he learned from his classmates.

"But I don't want to go home." He whined, "I don't like it anymore."

"Why don't you like it? M'Gann and John are there with you." Kaldur pressed, seizing the  opportunity.

"Cus Zatanna is there and I can't be Conner because she doesn't know about Conner and I can only be Superboy and being Superboy all the time is hard!" Conner tugged on his shirt, "She asks me thing I no know and M'Gann has to tell me in my head because I can't not know the answer."

Kaldur kept silent as Conner continued on his rant, upset that the entire Team had somehow missed this.

"And it's just like before Jin came!" Conner finished emphatically, twisting in Kaldur's lap to stare at him.

"Conner, let us go back home." Kaldur quickly put down the protest, "And I will call a emergency family meeting and we will talk about this. I am so sorry we missed this and I will make it right."

"It's my stupid toddler brain that's the problem. Its not your fault." Conner mumbled.

"It is not stupid, it is your amazing brain that does amazing things. It is out fault for not taking the right steps before allowing Zatanna to live with you." Kaldur said before hesitantly placing a kiss on top of the toddler's head, "I will make this right."

* * *

 

Zatanna was slightly concerned when she walked into the base and was greeted by almost the entire Team in the living room.

"Uh, I'm not kicked off the team, am I? Because you guys are making me a bit nervous."

"No, no. It's nothing like that." M'Gann reassured her, "Theres just one thing we all completely forgot to do when you moved in and were  doing it now."

"Superhero teams do hazing now?" Zatanna chuckled nervously, "Dad never told me about that."

"Trust me, it's not that." Artemis said, "Closest thing to that is going to be Robin."

"Guilty as charged." Robin chirped, "The pranks start after the grace period is over."

"But this matter is more important than that." Kaldur reigned in the conversation, "it has come to our attention that we never introduced you to one of the most important members of the team."

Zatanna was confused as M'Gann picked something up from behind the other team members before approaching her.

In her arms was a small black haired, blue eyed toddler. The boy waved shyly before burying his face in M'Gann's shirt.

"This is Conner. You've already met him as Superboy." M'Gann  explained as she rocked him a bit, "But this is his civilian identity. It's a long story involving Gods and Magic, but this meeting had been long overdue."

Zatanna smiled and waved when Conner peeked out at her, "Hi Conner, I'm Zatanna."

If she was being honest, it wasn't the weirdest thing she'd seen lately.


End file.
